Lebanon’s Hezbollah drawn into Syria conflict
►http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20085989
This the first time that Hezbollah has acknowledged that some of its members may have been in Syria, albeit without any formal support. In truth, there is no real border in these areas, and that is part of the conundrum.
There are Lebanese communities on what is now regarded as the Syrian side, and thousands of Syrians live in “border” villages that are today formally within Lebanon but were not always so.
Soudayf Hamada is a senior tribal figure among the Shia villages at the northern end of the Bekaa and, crucially, also speaks for Lebanese citizens on the other side of the valley - land that is nowadays inside Syria.
He defends the role of individuals to protect their communities and their lands.
“Many of our villages in Syria have been attacked by the rebels,” Mr Soudayf says as he points to the villages in question, no more than a 1km (0.6 miles) away.
“People have been killed. Hezbollah can’t stop its supporters defending their own land.”
